


Restless

by jamesbvck



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Best Friends, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2019-01-07 00:12:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12221796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jamesbvck/pseuds/jamesbvck
Summary: Betty is a restless sleeper. Jughead tries to help her sleep after a long day.





	Restless

**Author's Note:**

> A little bit of fluff. Let me know what you think :)

Betty wasn’t a good sleeper. She always had a hard time falling asleep; she’d lay there for hours staring at the ceiling. Eventually when she would get to sleep, she would toss and turn all night long. This resulted in her being haggard and dragging herself out of bed to go to work or class. There had been a few times where she’d almost fall asleep on the bus and miss her stop (this had actually happened three times before). There had to be some solution out there that would help her sleep better.

On a cool autumn morning in October, Betty got herself dressed and ready for the day. No amount of concealer could help the blues and purples under her eyes today. She sighed, brushing her hair up into a ponytail and grabbed her backpack. First thing first was coffee; coffee was the key to her soul and keeping her awake for the rest of the day. She set her backpack on the kitchen table chair and put on a fresh pot, grabbing an apple from the fruit basket.

“Morning, Betts.”

Betty turned around, giving a small smile to Jughead. Her and Jughead had been roommates since she moved to the city and he had posted an ad in the school paper looking for a roommate. It was a decent area, close to school and the rent was going to be cheaper since they were splitting it. He was a bit of an odd ball, but she liked it. At first it was strange living with a boy but two years and many late night Denny’s adventures later, they were a pretty solid duo. Betty had went on a few dated with his best friend Archie but they didn’t work out, which was okay. Nothing had been awkward and they all still hung out.

“Morning, Jug. Want some coffee?” Betty opened the cabinet, getting out two mugs anyway. His answer was always yes.

Jughead went to the pantry and took out some Cap’n Crunch, a bowl, milk and spoon then sat at the table. “Cereal and coffee.”

She smiled, pouring him a mug once the coffee was ready. “Black, as you like it.”

“Black as my soul.” He quipped.

Betty mixed in two sugars and some milk, sitting with Jughead at the table. Sometimes they didn’t say much to each other; she would read and he would eat but the silence was always comfortable. When Betty first moved in, they were always in separate rooms doing their own thing but as time passed they found a common ground and interests. He was her best friend.

“Class and work today?” Jughead asked, scooping up the last bit of cereal.

She nodded, looking over at him. “Double lecture and then work until nine. Not hell, but close enough.”

Jughead pushed his bowl of cereal away once he was finished, sipping his coffee as he looked over at his blonde friend. “Did you sleep enough?”

“I got enough.” She replied. He could almost hear the sigh in her voice. Jughead was a night owl so when he heard Betty muttering to herself late at night in her room, he knew she was restless and frustrated. He had suggested sleeping techniques and using a white noise machine but nothing seemed to help her. It upset him to see her so drained when he knew she could be so full of life.

Betty was always the one that kept him going when he was feeling down. He wanted to try to do the same for her when she wasn’t at her best.

As she finished her coffee, Betty rinsed out the mug and left it in the sink to wash later. “I’ll see you later, Juggie. Have a good day.” She patted his head, giving him a grin as she left with her backpack over her shoulder.

He watched as she went; her ponytail swinging with a skip in her step as she strolled out of the apartment. She was grace.

Betty wasn’t sure how she was going to make it through both lectures. On her way to school she had gotten another coffee, an extra-large with three shots of espresso. She hoped that would do the trick, and it did, for her first lecture at least. She sat slouched over, her hand propping up her chin. Her eyes fluttered open and close as she watched the PowerPoint presentation from hell go on and on and on. Time seemed to be going by in slow motion.

Jughead liked to send her cliché motivational texted throughout the course of the day. It started once while she was having a no good very bad day situation with her mother getting on her nerves, her favourite shirt being ruined in the wash, so on and so on. So Jughead had decided to send her inspiring quotes. They always made her smile.

_ The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. _

‘Thank you, Eleanor Roosevelt.’ Betty texted during class.

‘It is my honour, always.’ He cheekily replied.

By the time Betty was at work, she was exhausted. A five-hour shift at the diner was going to do her in. On top of that, there were some snobby customers that had come in that night and were seated at her section. Being drained and interacting with rude people were not a good combination. Betty had to give herself a timeout in the back room to resist herself from lashing out, that wouldn’t be good customer service.

“Your shift’s almost done. Another hour left to go.”

Betty sighed on the phone, nodding at Jughead’s words. “I’m just so tired, Jug. I don’t even know how I’m functioning. And I have an essay due tomorrow and I just--”

“Betty.” Jughead interrupted. “It’s going to be okay. I think you need to take a break from it all. You’re overworking yourself and not sleeping. Do you want me to come when your shift’s over and we’ll walk home together?”

“No, that’s silly. Don’t walk all the way here to walk all the way back home.”

Jughead got up to go find his jacket. “It’s not an inconvenience, you’re not an inconvenience.”

“No. I promise I’m okay now. Talking to you makes me feel better.” Betty looked up at the clock seeing she had been away from her table for more than ten minutes. “Like you said, it’s just an hour more than I’ll be done.”

Jughead felt a little wary about her answer. “Are you sure?”

“Juggie, I’m positive.” She smiled to herself. “I’ll see you when I get home.”

Betty hung up the call, setting up from the stack of milk crates she had sat on.  _ One more hour and then you’re free. _ She tucked her phone into her apron and wandered back out with a forced ‘the customer is always right’ grin plastered on her face.

As soon as it was nine o’clock on the dot, Betty went ahead and clocked out in the backroom. She pulled out her backpack from a locker and tossed her apron into her bag. She couldn’t wait to get home and collapse on the couch. Before she left, she said bye to a few of the other girls and checked the schedule for the fourth time that night to know when she was working next.

“Order for Jones!”

Betty glanced over as she walked out of the backroom seeing Jughead hand over a twenty-dollar bill. He took the white paper bag, saying thank you to Ernie behind the counter.

“Jug. I told you I’m fine.” Betty folded her arms as she walked over to him.

“I know.” He opened the bag, pulling out some fries to munch on. “I was hungry and wanted a snack.”

She rolled her eyes at him, trying to refrain from smiling. He was always hungry so it wasn’t necessarily a lie. All he wanted to do was make sure that Betty was okay, she was important to him. She went ahead and linked her arm with Jughead’s, walking out of the diner to go back home.

As soon as they got home, Betty got out of her work uniform and showered to get the smell of fried food off her skin. She changed into comfy clothes and nestled herself on the couch where she dove in and started her essay. Luckily it had to be only a thousand words, double-spaced so it was nothing too crazy. She knew enough about the topic to push her way through it. Jughead sat on the other side of the couch with his own laptop and the TV on. He’d glance over every once and awhile, seeing her fall from tiredness.

“Betty, why don’t you finish the rest in the morning?” He suggested. “Your class isn’t until noon.”

“No, I’m almost done. I need to find a quote.” She mumbled, squinting at the screen.

Jughead reached over, closing her laptop and placed it to the side. “Find it in the morning.” He took the blanket off the back of the couch and handed it to her. “Try and sleep”

She sighed, nodding as she shifted herself to lie down on the couch. He was right; she needed to sleep. She needed her brain to turn off for a few hours and recharge. Jughead lowered the volume of the TV, putting his feet up on the table. He was extra quiet so Betty could get some rest. She seemed to have dozed off quite quickly, her breathing evening out and a light-purring snore. Jughead thought it was rather cute. She looked so peaceful.

Jughead had quietly got up to go get a glass of water, and another snack as it reached midnight. He returned to the living room with his drink and a bowl of Doritos. Betty had begun moving around, searching for a comfortable place. Her face scrunched up in uncertainty as she muttered to herself, sighing deeply. There it was, that restless part of the night. After another moment, she stopped. She lied on her back with her head facing away from the TV and her hands resting on her stomach. Jughead carefully sat down making sure not to disturb her.

The peace didn’t last long. As Jughead was twenty minutes into an episode of Law and Order, Betty began to shift again. She rolled and muttered, gripping onto the blanket for security. He frowned, setting his empty bowl on the table. Gently, Jughead reached over and carefully pulled Betty over to him. He stretched out his legs to lie down and brought Betty into his side, adjusting the blanket to rest over them. He wasn’t positive it was helpful but it was worth a shot. He remember when him and his little sister were kids, she always like the assurance of being close by when she couldn’t sleep or had a nightmare so she would climb into Jughead’s bed. He was hoping this would have the same affect.

Betty’s body eased into Jughead’s side, her head resting on his chest. He kept his arm around her to make sure she was okay before he focused his attention at the TV again. For the rest of the episode she seemed to be doing better and he didn’t have the heart to move them again. Carefully, he moved some strands of hair that had fallen in her face, letting his hand rest on her back. If she was uncomfortable with this, they’d never speak of it again. But for the meantime, Jughead was going to embrace the moment with her.

Betty, for the first time in months, had woken up with a full night’s sleep. Her hand grasped the fabric that she thought was the blanket but was actually Jughead’s shirt, opening her eyes to see him underneath her. For a moment she was stunned, this wasn’t right. This was very, very wrong. But as she looked at Jughead’s sleeping face it didn’t seem so bad; a beam of sun streamed in from the window and casted over his face. She slept with his help, a full eight hours with no disruptions.

She knew he didn’t have class today and he could sleep through anything, even during a thunderstorm. Betty moved Jughead’s arm from her waist to get up, tip toeing her way to her room. She still had to finish that essay for her class that afternoon. Quietly, she gathered up her things and pulled on leggings and a sweater, slipping her laptop into her backpack. Jughead was dead to the world and it made her giggle.

Betty leaned down, pressing her lips to his cheek. “Thank you.” She whispered, her fingers gracefully running down his cheek. She watched him for another moment before she had to go.

It was a safe bet that there would be many more nights spent in Jughead’s arms.

 


End file.
